Re: Modern PCS breakout rewrite
Pitermach,
I am happy you made an update to my game. However when I tried to unpack it with 7z I got 70 errors and the read me file was 0 bytes.
I know 7z has the ability to make zip files which I often use myself.
In the US I think zip is more universaly used than 7z.
We made Breakout for DOS and a screen reader in 1998 and a DOS/Windows self voicing version in 1999.
Here is the instruction for the screen reader version:
BREAKOUT!
SMASH! POW! CRUNCH! Is your hand/ear coordination up
to demolishing wall after wall of objects? Breakout brings back
the nostalgia of early video gaming days but adds today's
challenges.
Who ever said life was fair never played Breakout!
Produced by
&
nbsp; PCS Games
Written by
Carl Mickla
Sounds by
Phil Vlasak
Version 1.0
Copyright 1998
Twenty two years ago Atari released the original Breakout video
game
for their 2600 home game machine. P C S has taken the Breakout
concept and adapted it for game players who are visually impaired.
The concept is to shoot a ball into layers of different m
aterials
causing them to break and disappear.
Getting Started:
This game was written for the DOS included with Windows 95 and 98.
This is a DOS game and works best if you are in DOS using a DOS screen reader and hardware synthesizer.
To install from Windows:
1. From the CD which contains the game hit enter on
INSTALL Breakout 98.bat
This will install your game in the "C:\Breakout 98" folder
2. Exit to the MS-DOS prompt
3. type:
CD "c:\Breakout 98"
Then hit the enter key.
4. Type breakout
Then hit the enter key.
This will start the game.
To install from DOS:
1. From the CD which contains the game hit enter on
INSTALL Breakout 98.bat
This will install your game in the "C:\Breakout 98" folder
2. type: CD "c:\Breakout 98"
then hit the enter key.
3. Type breakout
then hit the ente
r key.
This will start the game.
You first get the title screen, then the sound setting.
You can use the up and down arrow keys to review the sound choices
then hit enter to choose one.
The Sound Settings section below has more details on changing your
sound.
Instructions on the games:
Hit enter at the INSTRUCTIONS choice in the main menu to read
this instruction file. You can read the file and pause at each
screen, then hit any key to continue. You can hold down the
CONTROL key and hit the BREAK or c key to get out of this
document at
any time. At the end of the instructions, you go back to the main
menu so you
can then play the games.
Each game is played by one player at a time.
In order to play a game you use the up and down arrow keys to
review the games, then choose one by hitting enter on the game
name.
Imaginary graphics:
Sinc
e this game was written for the blind it contains no costly and
elaborate graphics that slow down game play.
You will have to imagine the following screen layout:
You are standing on a moving belt at the bottom of the screen. To
your left and right are two spring mattresses. In front of you is
a wall made out of several layers of breakable materials such as
glass bricks.
When the game starts, you will be traveling left and right on the
belt between the two spring barriers and you will hear a 'Boing
sound when you hit one of the spring barrierss. At the start of the
first
turn you travel from the left barrier to the right, and on the
second turn you travel from the right barrier back to the left.
As you travel left and right you will hear quieter 'clicking'
sounds from your PC speaker. The clicking represents a sound
bounced off each object as you pass it. When you throw the ball an
d
knock an object out, the pitch of the click sound rises at that
point in the wall, representing a hole in that layer of objects.
You press the Space bar, enter key or up arrow to shoot
the ball. As you smash out the objects and break through layers in
the wall, , you will hear a faster and faster sound of them
breaking.
Scoring:
The objective in all of the games is to score the highest possible
number of points, or to score more points than your opponent.
Points are scored by hitting the ball into the rows of objects.
You can shoot three balls maximum between 'Boing' barriers. If you
try to shoot more, you will get an 'empty shooter sound' and not be
able to hit objects until the next 'Boing' barrier.
Whenever you break through the last layer of objects the
game will play a 'cheer sound' give you your score and the next
wall of objects will be set up.
Each game includes thirteen walls of objects starting with glass
bricks, and ending with drips. As you break through each layer in
a wall the sound of the objects will speed up and your movement
back and forth will speed up.
When you finish with the last wall and get your score, the game
will compare that score with the highest score previously reached.
If you beet the highest score, the game will tell you to type in
your name and hit enter.
This will be saved so you or your opponent can try to top it.
Breakout contains the following four game variations:
BUST THROUGH
The objective is to break through walls as quickly as possible with
the least amount of balls used.
Each wall contains nine layers of objects with seven objects wide.
If you knock through the nine layers of objects a new wall will
appear. You must break through thirteen walls to end the game.
The point value in this game is de
termined by the object position,
as follows:
The center object equals 3 points.
The object on either side of the center equals 2 points.
The next object on either side equals 1 point.
The object next to the barrier equals 0 points.
You get bonus points added for each layer broken through.
To your score, you add 0 for the first layer and 8 for the
ninth layer. so you get from 3 points to 11 points for each center
object.
Each wall of objects is worth a maximum of 63 points.
The maximum attainable score for BUST THROUGH is 819.
CLEAR THE WALL
The goal is to clear all the objects in a wall.
The walls are seven objects wide by nine deep.
the score fore breaking each object is 1 point.
you get minus 2 points for a miss.
So you need to knock out 63 objects to get through to the next
wall.
The maximum attainable score for clear the wall is 819.
SQUEEZE PLAY
The objective&n
bsp; is to bust through the wall before the barriers
squeeze
shut.
When the game begins, the play field contains walls fifteen
objects wide and nine levels deep.
Once Squeeze Play begins, the walls shrink by one at each turn
between the 'Boing' barriers until it reaches 0 and you get a
crushing sound. New objects are exposed to the play field at a
progressively faster rate.
Because you only have 15 turns before the wall squeezes shut, and
you need to knock out nine objects to get through, you can only
miss five times.
You get 1 point for the first object knocked out in a layer. So
your maximum score for each layer is . 1 to 9 points
you get minus 1 for each additional knocked out in a layer
Your maximum score per wall is 45.
The maximum score for Squeeze Play is 585.
STRETCH TO BREAKING
the objective is to break through the wall before the wall snaps
apa
rt. It starts with 7 objects wide and stretches to 18 when it
snaps. Just before it snaps, you will get two warning sounds at
each end.
You get 1 point for the first object knocked out in a layer. So
your maximum score for each layer is 1 to 9 points
you get minus 1 for each additional knocked out in a layer
Your maximum score per wall is 45.
The maximum score for STRETCH to BREAKING is 585.
RATING CHART
If you complete the game through thirteen walls you will get a
number of rating points as shown below:
Level 0 OOPS
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 102.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 73.
Level 1 FAIR
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 204.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 146.
Level 2 GOOD
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 306.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 219.
Level 3 ACE
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 408.
SQUEEZE PLAY and
; STRETCH TO BREAKING 292.
Level 4 PRO
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 510.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 365.
Level 5 STAR
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 612.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 438.
Level 6 [[wow]]!
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 714.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 511.
Level 7 BEST
BUST THROUGH and CLEAR THE WALL 819.
SQUEEZE PLAY and STRETCH TO BREAKING 585.
Quit the game:
Press the escape key to return to the game menu.
HELPFUL HINTS
When playing any of the Breakout games, your best bet is to
work your way out through the right or left corner of the play
field. The corners seem to be the easiest points at which to
establish a "groove".
Be prepared for you and the ball to move at a faster speed when it
hits the
objects in the walls. You can miss a lot of shots simply by not
being prepared.
Don
't panic when the ball reaches the last layers of the wall.
at this point all you need is a little more concentration, and a
finer touch on shooting. In time you'll have no trouble at all
hitting the
target when the game speeds up.
Learn to anticipate when to shoot the ball which is going to be
where you shot it on the last turn. Anticipation can
be a key factor, particularly when the game gets near the last
layer.
When the ball is traveling at high speed, you
won't always have time to react and shoot the ball at the right
object, but you can shoot up to three times per turn, so you can
create a wider hole in the wall with repeated shots.
Each wall is more difficult to clear than the one before it, and
each layer adds
even more difficulty. As you progress through the game you'll
encounter objects
that you have to hit more than once to break, and even some objects
can't
be
broken at all.
If your going to get a high score in Bust Through, you have got to
get good at
aiming the ball at the center of the wall.
At every hit, the ball moves faster and keeping track of the center
of the wall when you are moving at faster speeds isn't easy.
PCS Games is not responsible for your being fired when you are
caught playing these games for hours at work!
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